Athematic Participles in Brazilian Portuguese: A Syncretism in the Making

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Forum de Morphologie - 5e Dcembrettes Toulouse Dcembre/2006

Athematic Participles in Brazilian Portuguese:

A Syncretism in the Making

Paulo CHAGAS DE SOUZA (USP)[email protected]

1. Introduction & Objective

- Portuguese has 3 verb conjugations reflected in the theme vowel (TV,henceforward) of the infinitives: amarlove, quererwant andsentirfeel. Practically all infinitives in Portuguese have a TV, which then

bears main stress. The only exception isprput.- Regular past participles (henceforth, participles): thematic stem1 +

participle morpheme {-d-} + gender morpheme (+ plural morpheme).So, the verbs above have the participles: amado, querido andsentido2.

- This is not the only possible scheme for the formation of participles inBrazilian Portuguese (henceforth, BP). Many verbs form participleswithout a TV or the participle morpheme.

- Still an irregular type, but its number has been on the increase,especially in colloquial spoken BP.

- Verbs which may have two different participles each following one ofthe schemes above include: aceitaraccept, with participles aceitadoand aceito; and limpar clean, with limpado and limpo. They are

parsed below for clarity:1) aceit.a.d.o aceit.o

accept.TV.Participle.msg accept.msg2) limp.a.d.o limp.o

clean.TV.Participle.msg clean.msg

- This is one of the two patterns of double participles in Portuguese. Notethat the stem is the same in both forms of each verb.

- The other pattern, found with verbs from the 2nd and 3rd conjugations,shows consonant alternations normally inherited from Latin, such as

prender to arrest, with participles prendido and preso, the latterregularly derived from the Latin participleprehensu-, and the former a

regularized participle.

1 Note that the second conjugation theme vowel occurs as {-i-}before the past participle morpheme {-d-}.2 Participles will be cited in their masculine singular form.

- Note: regular thematic participles all bear stress on the TV, whereas these

athematic participles all bear primary stress on the athematic stem.- As the morphosyntactic category first person singular present indicative

(henceforth, 1SPI) is realized by {-o}, it normally coincides with themasculine form of this athematic participle, giving rise to a syncretism

between 1SPI and the participle.- This has been happening in spite of the fact that these two forms have no

other common morphosyntactic features, besides that of beingparticiples.

- Aim of this paper: tracking the appearance of this kind of participle andthe resulting syncretism in Portuguese and the changes making it possiblefor new participles to be formed in this way in colloquial BP.

- It is organized as follows: section 2 presents characteristics of Latinverbal paradigms which ultimately paved the way for the changes inPortuguese; section 3 details the changes that have taken place inPortuguese; and section 4 points to some further questions for futureresearch. Only internal factors will be taken into account throughout.

2. Latin

- The ultimate cause for the existence of such double participles in BP liesin properties of Latin inflection and derivation, so it is best to start byexamining the relevant properties of Latin verb inflection in Table 1.

Conjugation(theme vowel)

Present Stem PerfectStem

ParticipleStem

Meaning

first ( ) am-- am--v- am--t- love

fourth ( ) aud-- aud--v- aud--t- hear

second ( ) dl-- dl--v dl--t- destroy

second ( ) hab-- hab-u- hab-i-t- have

third ( ) leg-e- leg- lec-t- read

third ( ) cap-i- cp- cap-t- take

Table 1. Stems of regular verbs of the four Latin conjugations.

- Aronoff (1994) builds on the traditional analysis, according to whicheach Latin verb normally has three stems: the present stem, the perfect

stem and what he calls the 3rd stem (usually named the participle stem, as

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in Table 1). The stems differ in meaning and in terms of what forms

may be built on them, both inflectional and derivational forms.- The inflectional forms built on the 3rd stem are the perfect participle, the

future active participle and the supine. E.g., considerlaud praise:3) Present stem: laud-

Perfect stem: laud-v-Perfect participle: laudtus, a, um

Third stem: laud-t- Future active participle: laudtrus, a, umSupine: laudtu(m)

- Aronoff concludes there is no common semantic element present in allforms, not even if we limit ourselves to analyzing only inflectionalforms. Its two most common uses the two participles derived from thethird stem have no common morphosyntactic feature: one is a passive

past participle and the other is an active future participle.- In this way, the fact that these two participles are formed on the same

stem is a morphomic, essentially arbitrary, fact, since there is norelation between them.

- Derivations: it was possible to create new lexemes on the 3 rd stem,including nomina agentis ending in -orand the nomina actionis endingin -io(n). Apart from that, there was another morphomic property ofLatin verbs, that is, the fact that it was possible to create verbs on the 3 rd

stem. This is the other property which has reflexes in Portuguesegrammar to this day and is also related to a great extent to thediachronic path of creation of athematic root-stressed participles in BP.

- Aronoff (1994: 46): three kinds of verbs derived on the 3rd stem ofLatin verbs: desideratives, iteratives and intensives.

- Desideratives obviously denoted a wish, and were formed on the 3 rd

stem by adding the ending -uri, as in examples s-uri want to eat,from ed-, d-, s-um eat; empt-uri want to buy, from em-, m-,

empt-um buy; andpart-uri want to give birth, frompari-,peper-,part-um give birth. This verb formation process was lost in Romance.

- Iteratives denoted repetition and were formed by adding the ending-it/-itre to the athematic form of the 3rd stem, as in examplesscript-

it write often, based on scrib-, scrips-, script-um write; vs-itvisit, based on vide-, vd-, vs-um see; and iact-it throw often,

based on iaci-, ic-, iact-um throw.

- Intensives, on the other hand, were formed simply by adding first

conjugation endings, including the theme vowel -- to the athematic formof the 3rd stem. This is how verbs such as the following were formed:

iact- throw forcefully/often, based on iaci-, ic-, iact-um throw;volt- roll, meditate, based on volv-, volv-, volt-um roll; and tract-

drag, handle, based on trah-, trax-, tract-um pull.- Although there may have been a semantic difference between iteratives

and intensives, it was apparently eliminated, both having converged inmeaning in many cases. There was semantic bleaching of this kind ofintensive verbs, a repeatedly mentioned characteristic of the process ofgrammaticalization. What were initially two verb formation processesassociated with different meanings became simply two possiblemechanisms for word-formation.

- Allen & Greenough (1888: 159) state to this regard: Intensives oriteratives are formed from the Supine stem and end in -t or -it (rarely-s). They denote a forcible or repeated action, but this special senseoften disappears.

- Ernout & Meillet (1967) remark: can correspond un intensif cant,s, u, tum, re, qui, ds les plus anciens textes, concurrence can sansque la nuance itrative ou intensive soit toujours visible.

- They also say that based on iaci the frequentative iact, s, lancer,jeter souvent ou avec force, was formed, and that it later started to meanagiter or mettre en avant.

- They conclude by saying that Iactare ... qui basse poque semploiecomme synonime de iaci, a seul subsist et a remplac iacere dans leslangues romanes.

- One further remark they make is that desali existe un itratif-intensivancien et usuelsalt, s qui tend se substituer salre.

- The formation ofintensive verbs is the one that matters for our purposeshere. It is important to bear in mind that they always belonged to the first

conjugation. What Aronoff calls the morphomic level contains purelymorphological properties. In this sense, it is a morphomic fact that the 3 rd

stem of Latin verbs is ultimately the base on which both the participleand the so-called intensive verbs are formed. Some more examples:

4) crepo, crepare, crepitum: rattle, crackcrepito, crepitare, crepitatum: crack repeatedly

5) verto, vertere, versum: turnverso, versare, versatum: whirl

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6) cedo, cedere, cessum: ir, grant, give

cesso, cessare, cessatum: cease7) pello, pellere, pulsum: hit, drive away

pulso, pulsare, pulsatum: knock, strike (the hour)- As a result of the creation of these new verbs, Latin had some

participles related to two lexemes at the same time. The stem puls-found in the participle pulsum contained the 3rd stem of the primitive

verbpello and was identical to the bare stem of the derived verb pulso.- Sometimes, derivatives ended up leading a life of their own,

undergoing an independent semantic drift. Ex.:8) habeo, habere, habitum: have, occupy

habito, habitare, habitatum: inhabit- Anyway, we should note that the past participle eventually became

lexically related to two different lexemes, since habitum, e.g., wasrelated both to habeo and to habito.

3. Portuguese

- Portuguese preserved several irregular Latin participles, but in manycases they were gradually regularized. Older participles sometimessurvived as nouns, adjectives or as double participles. E.g.:9) as N: defender defend defendido defeso (>defesa defense)10) as A: possuir possess possudo possesso (> very angry)11) doublet: imprimir press imprimido impresso

- The two most frequent groups of Portuguese verbs with doubleparticiples originated in Latin irregular forms which were regularized.

- This could happen to verbs in all conjugations. The examples aboveshow verbs from the second and third conjugation. Note that in thosecases no new verb was created, either in Latin or in Portuguese.

- What happened to several first conjugation verbs, however, was that anew verb was created. As participles may lead a rather independent life

from the verb they are related to, while often both participle and verbwere preserved, sometimes only one was, the other being lost.

- This can be seen in some verbs derived from Lat. capio take: recipio,accipio and percipio. We see in example 12 a present tense form,

followed by its participle and another verb derived from it.12) recipio receptum recepto

accipio acceptum acceptopercipio perceptum

- The verbs recepto and accepto were formed in Latin itself . There was no

verb percepto in common use. The verb recipio remained in use, but itsparticiple was regularized in Portuguese, receito having been replaced by

recebido. There is still the noun receita recipe based on this disusedparticiple.

- The verb accipio had the participle acceptum, on which the verb acceptowas formed. Between Latin and Portuguese, the verb accipio fell into

disuse, but its participle acceptum/aceito remained in use, as well as thederived verb accepto, which yielded Portuguese aceitar, on which aregular participle was form, aceitado.

- The result was that aceitar now had two participles, one inherited fromLatin, aceito, and one created in Portuguese, aceitado3.

13) recebido receber (receita) receitar receitado

* aceber aceito aceitar aceitado

- The diagram above shows the Portuguese correspondents of those two

Latin verbs. The inflectional links are shown by means of a dash.- The infinitives of Portuguese verbs originally existing in Latin appear inthe second column. The starred verb *aceber does not exist in

Portuguese. The first column contains participles regularized inPortuguese. The third contains Portuguese forms of the participles of the

verbs as they would develop from Latin. The fourth contains verbsderived from those participles, and the last one, the regular participles.

- What has been changing recently is that this has gradually been extendedto other verbs in colloquial speech, as follows:

1st phase: only doublets resulting from Latin participles. Circumscribed toverb roots ending in alveolar obstruents (mostly t, but also s, d), e.g.:

o aceitaraccept: aceitado/aceito (< acceptu-);Eu tinha aceitado/aceito a oferta.I had accepted the offer.

o expulsarexpel, kick out: expulsado/expulso (< expulsu-).

O professor tinha expulsado/expulso o aluno.The teacher had expelled the student.

3 There are differences in usage between them. The Latinateparticiple predominates in passive constructions, being sometimesthe only possibility, whereas the regularized participle is sometimesmore common in perfective tenses. This difference, however, is

orthogonal to the discussion here.3


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o findarfinish: findado/findo (< finitu-) (uncommon in current BP);

2nd phase: extended to other 1st conjugation verbs, e.g.:o pagarpay: pagado/pago (a few found in standard BP)

Eu tinha pagado/pago a conta.

I had paid the bill.o chegar arrive: chegado/chego (and several others not found in

standard BP)A carta tinha chegado/chego.

The letter had arrived.

3rd phase: verbs in other conjugations (also not found in standard BP).E.g.:o trazerbring: trazido/trago.

O professor tinha trazido/trago o livro.The teacher had brought the book.

o pedirrequest: pedido/peo.

O presidente tinha pedido/peo pacincia.The president had asked_for patience.

- Apparently, this kind of participle (phases 2 and 3, or only 3) is aunique innovation among Romance languages.

- examples collected from the internet:14) A diretora tinha compro os carimbos e no chegou at hoje

15) Ela mal tinha chego em So Paulo no conhecia nada16) Pra mim minha vida tinha acabo

17) Ele tinha peo para a garota fechar os olhos18) Nunca tinha ouo falar disso antes

19) ... ea irm dela tinha trago chocolate suo.

4. FINAL REMARKS

- At least descriptively, the process may be captured by a directional ruleof referral (Zwicky 1985, Stump 1993) stating that the singularmasculine form of the participle (its default form, used e.g. in perfecttenses) coincides in form with the 1PSI.

- Baerman (2005: 811): In the terminology introduced by Zwicky(1985), the former type is a RULEOF EXPONENCE, the latter a RULEOFREFERRAL. Rules of exponence, in some form, constitute the backbone

of any morphological modelthey state the association between

function and form. Rules of referral, however, might be seen as

secondary, since they describe a covert, morphology-internalrelationship. Many observers prefer to dispense with this type of rule

entirely, for reasons of formal economy.- Although some frameworks reject the use of rules of referral, it seems

very unlikely that the process could be described by means ofunderspecification or the like, mainly because the two slots in the verb

paradigm do not form a natural class at all.- The active mirroring of the 1PSI is more transparent in verbs with

morphophonemic alternations restricted to that form and to the presentsubjunctive, regularly formed on the same stem (cf. 3rd phase). Anoriginally accidental pattern a morphomic fact relating inflection andderivation has been reinterpreted as systematic, as Baerman (2005:810) argues may happen.

- Baerman (2005: 810): Another indicator of systematicity is thediachronic extension of a syncretic pattern.

- Baerman (2005: 810): In practice, the distinction between accidental andsystematic homophony may be ambiguous or fluid. Indeed, there isdiachronic evidence that originally accidental patterns can bereinterpreted as systematic.

- Even Wunderlich (2003), which questions the use of rules of referral,seems to accept their interpretation as tools to capture diachronicgeneralizations. The best way to account for these changes that have beentaking place in BP verbal morphology within a theoretical frameworkwill be the subject of future research.

REFERENCES:

Allen & Greenough (1888).New Latin Grammar. Boston: Ginn and Co.

Aronoff, M. (1994).Morphology by Itself. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Baerman, M.(2005). Directionality and (Un)Natural Classes in Syncretism, in

Language 80(4): 807-827Ernout, & Meillet (1967 [1932]). Dictionnaire tymologique de la langue

latine: histoire des mots. Paris: Klincksieck.Stump, G. T. (1993). On rules of referral.Language 69: 449479.

Wunderlich, D. (2003). Is there any need for the concept of directionalsyncretism? In L.Gunkel, G. Mller and G. Zifonun (eds.) Explorations in

Nominal Inflection. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

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Zwicky, A. (1985). How to describe inflection, in Berkeley Linguistics

Society 11: 372-386.

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Athematic Participles in Brazilian Portuguese: A Syncretism in the Making

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